Tear gas, chaos and killings as Kenyatta sworn in as president
AS POLICE tear-gassed his rival and opened fire on opposition supporters, Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in as Kenya’s president for a second term yesterday at a ceremony that exposed the country’s deep and dangerous rift.
The political and ethnic divisions threatening Kenya’s stability were on stark display in Nairobi. Surrounded by thousands of cheering loyalists, Mr Kenyatta took the oath of office at a triumphalist celebration in the capital’s Kasarani Stadium.
However, tear gas and the acrid smoke of burning tyres wafted across the sprawling eastern suburbs as police used force to prevent Raila Odinga, the veteran opposition leader, holding a prayer rally.
At least three people were shot dead, including a seven-year-old boy, before Mr Odinga’s cavalcade attempted to reach the site of the rally. Large quantities of human excrement had been dumped at the site overnight to deter his supporters from gathering.
The opposition’s rally was called to commemorate the deaths of scores of people killed since August in electionrelated violence.
But instead Mr Odinga stopped his car on a roadside and told protesters that he would be sworn in as president himself in a rival ceremony to be held on Dec 12, Kenya’s independence day. Although a largely symbolic move, Mr Odinga’s declaration of a parallel presidency dashes hopes for a swift resolution to Kenya’s deepening crisis.
It also cast a shadow over Mr Kenyatta’s celebrations, leaving the president struggling to unite a country in which large swathes refuse to see him as their legitimately elected leader.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister and Mr Kenyatta’s most prominent foreign guest, was forced to abandon the ceremony because of the deteriorating security situation.
Despite the setback, Mr Kenyatta struck a defiant and uncompromising note, warning his rival to abandon steps that would upend Kenya’s “constitutional order”.
“None of us should break the law, whatever our grievances or protestations,” he said. “Today’s inauguration marked the end of our electoral process. The elections are now firmly behind us.”
But the warning is unlikely to be heeded. Mr Kenyatta’s first election victory in August was overturned by the supreme court, which cited “illegalities” in the count.
Mr Odinga refused to participate in last month’s re-run, arguing it would be no fairer. He is calling for electoral reforms before another vote, with opposition leaders saying they are prepared to push for secession if their demands are ignored. With little sign of
‘Suppressing the protests so brutally, you only agitate the protesters even more’
compromise on either side, Kenya’s security forces have taken an ever tougher line against the opposition, banning and forcibly dispersing any public appearances by Mr Odinga. At least 10 of his supporters were killed earlier this month after police opened fire to prevent a demonstration.
The strategy has come under criticism, with even those not involved in the protests questioning why the opposition had been denied their right to protest as enshrined in Kenya’s constitution. “Nairobi is a big enough space to let those who want to mourn, mourn and those who want to celebrate, celebrate,” said one teacher, sheltering in a supermarket car park.
“By suppressing protests so brutally, you only agitate the protesters even more. There are people walking around here with knives and machetes.”
Yesterday’s protests started peacefully, but as police beat and tear-gassed demonstrators who posed no visible threat, violence swiftly erupted.
As the crisis has grown more entrenched, it has taken on a worrying ethnic dimension with a rise in attacks between Mr Odinga’s fellow Luo tribesmen and the president’s Kikuyu.
Earlier this month, the bodies of five men, all from opposition tribes, were found hacked to death in one Nairobi slum – an attack that is presumed to have been ethnically motivated.